Over 10,000 people stand in solidarity for action against coal

On Wednesday 24 April, an international team of six activists boarded a fully-loaded coal ship bound for South Korea as it left the Great Barrier Reef.

They took action to protest against Australia’s coal exports driving catastrophic global warming.

When we asked Australians to stand in solidarity with the activists by signing on to our statement of support, we were overwhelmed at the response. Within days 10,000 people had signed up to show their support.

To make our calls as strong as possible, we published this statement nationally in the Australia Financial Review - read widely among investors and decision makers – to show the business community we won’t stand for coal exports fuelling global warming.

When news broke of the activists boarding the coal ship, it kicked off a bit of discussion about civil disobedience. Professor Clive Hamilton from Charles Sturt University weighed in on the debate:

“In a situation where the facts overwhelmingly demand sweeping measures to protect humanity yet our political system seems unwilling to respond, what is a concerned citizen to do? ... When all legitimate means have been exhausted, the only alternative to apathy and despair appears to be civil disobedience.”

“I took action because people deserve a better future than that’s being offered by the coal industry. We cannot allow coal companies to expand unchecked, to continue to sicken communities across the world, and now export their direct energy to other countries. By boarding this ship, I’m working to take the step away from coal toward a clean and renewable energy future.”

From everyone at Greenpeace, thanks so much to everyone who joined this call.